Not only was her season over, but so was her four year volleyball career at Santa Catalina.

"I remember walking in here as a freshman four years ago barefoot and in jeans,'' Griffith smiled. "I tried out for the volleyball team and made the varsity.''

The Cougars middle blocker fought back tears with teammates Chase LeeHong and Lizzy Tardieu as a four-year run came to an end Wednesday for the trio.

"I realized this is the last time I will be on the court with Chase and Lizzy,'' Griffith said. "We all came in together.''

The Mission Trail Athletic League tri-champion Cougars saw the magic run out, falling 28-26, 25-19, 25-21 to Mercy of San Francisco in the Central Coast Section Division IV playoffs.

"You never prepare for the season to end,'' Santa Catalina coach Paul Elliott said. "But we knew this was a quality volleyball team we were facing."

Mercy came into the match with a 16-17 overall record. But that mark is misleading as it plays in the West Bay Athletic League, which includes Menlo and Sacred Heart Prep.

For Griffith, it was a reunion of sorts as her parents live about five minutes from the Mercy campus.

"Somehow I ended up here,'' Griffith said.

The senior evolved this fall into one of the premier middle blockers in the county, anchoring the Cougars attack in the middle.

"Our strength all season has been the middle,'' Elliott said.

And when the Cougars were able to run their offense, Griffith flourished inside off of sets from University of San Diego-bound setter Lizzy Tardieu.

"Mercy had an advantage on the outside,'' Elliott said. "We felt we had an advantage inside. But when the serve-receive broke down, it was hard to run the middle.''

Santa Catalina, which had been swept just once this fall in finishing the season 20-5 overall, held a seven-point lead in Game 1 and an 18-13 advantage in Game 3.

In both cases, it couldn't sustain the momentum.

"I think in both occasions, in the back of our heads we put even more pressure on ourselves,'' Griffith said. "No one wanted this to end.''

Behind the efforts of Griffith and LeeHong at the net and sophomore libero Tatumn Satow in the back row, Santa Catalina enjoyed a 19-13 lead in Game 1 before the Skippers ran off eight consecutive points.

What followed were three lead changes and five ties before Mercy ran off the final two points to post a 28-26 win.

"I don't know if it was a turning point,'' Elliott said. "You realize now that you have to win three of the next four. But this is a resilient group. We did it against Carmel.''

Elliott was referring to the Cougars bouncing back from a Game 1 loss to Carmel eight days ago to beat them in four and gather a share of the MTAL title.

What Santa Catalina didn't have an answer for was Mercy outside hitter Kijana Best, who tormented them from the outside the entire match.

"No. 9 (Best) laid the wood on the ball,'' Elliott said. "Mercy didn't make the serve-receive errors that we did. That one girl served well in Game 3. We knew it was coming.''

With their season in the balance, the Cougars opened up a 17-12 lead in Game 3 after Sara Franks dinked a pair of shots over the net off of passes from Tardieu.

Clinging to a 20-16 lead, Santa Catalina couldn't break the Skippers, who went on another run. Even two time outs by Elliott couldn't stop the bleeding as Mercy ripped off seven straight points to take a 23-20 lead.

"Their serve-receive got them back in Games 1 and 3,'' said Elliott, who won nearly 400 matches as a collegiate coach at Southern Oregon.

Even a pair of diving digs from Satow couldn't rescue the Cougars, who saw their season come to an erupt end in the first round for the first time in six years.